Civil Status: Married
by Kammyh
Summary: During one of the Master's shenanigans, the Doctor finds himself in quite a predicament. Unfortunately for the Master, it turns out to be the chance they had voluntarily missed to set the things straight between the two of them. Obviously, the rest of the UNIT family tries to help them as well.


**Disclaimer** : I do not own Doctor Who, no copyright infringement intended. If you still want to sue… Well, I still want Ianto back, even though Torchwood is related to Doctor Who (2005) and not to the Classic Series. English is not my native language, any constructive criticism is appreciated.

 **Warning:** Most of my knowledge is based on other's stories and the TV series of the Doctors One, Two, Three, Nine, Ten and Eleven. I willingly don't pay much attention to audio drama, books and other stuff, since I just can't follow all of them (even though some ideas from the novels intrigue me quite a lot) Therefore, this is, as far as I know, just an Alternative Timeline, but if you've red much more than me, just treat it as an Alternative Universe.

 **A/N** : I had plenty to study and to do and I wrongly mixed it with the desire to watch the Classic Series of Dr Who. At the worst of the times, I stumbled across the Third Doctor, reason why I ended up writing a fiction. In my defence, I needed to get out of my system my Three/Master obsession to do something else with my life.

 **Civil status: Married**

It was a day like all the others when it happened.

Captain Yates and Brigadier Lethbridge-Steward had the Master under their aim after the last of his shenanigans was coming to an abrupt and unexpected end. It was the usual precaution they took while they waited for all the confusion to subside, little they knew that the upcoming events wouldn't require their perfect aim with firearms. Not against the Master, however.

The last alien power-craving spaceship The Master had the misfortune to try and conquer – only to fail and becoming their war counsellor – had decided that Earth was too good a treat to share it with the cunning Time Lord, and had eventually locked him inside the UNIT Headquarters with the Doctor and the rest of the UNIT staff, as they set up their positronic nuclear weaponry to make it explode.

As soon as the tables were turned, the Doctor welcomed back at his side his fellow renegade Time Lord with a caustic "My dear Master, are you finally ready to agree with me that if someone has defied you once they might as well defy you a second time?"

"Please, my dear Doctor" The Master had answered on the same vaguely irritated tone. "I dare you to take your own advice"

Both Time Lords glared annoyed at one another and without further discussion began working together like a well-oiled gear. Even Jo, as soon as she had realized that the _team up with the Master_ moment of their current adventure had finally begun, devoted herself to try helping Sergeant Benton to open the windows of the laboratory, so that they could have a ready-made escape route in case the two Time Lords messed up whatever they were doing. Or, as she liked to remind herself, _when_.

The Brigadier, as soon as he had realised that they would need way more escape routes with the two Time Lords working together, ordered his men to try opening whatever door or window they could find. Then, he brought the Captain behind one of the too many consoles that continued to pile up inside the Doctor's lab and waited for everything to end, so that he could finally try once again – and as always fail – to capture the Master, right after he had helped them unravel the dangers he had brought on them.

It was _then_ the moment when the unexpected happened.

Apparently, the aliens had discovered what the two Time Lords were doing – the sudden implosion of their spaceship being quite the giveaway – and had decided that the least they could do was to retaliate against the Master.

Jo yelled in fright as soon as the blobby grey jelly appeared in front of her on the other side of the windows she was trying to open, but luckily the Sergeant was ready to bring her to safety before it shattered in hundreds pieces of glass. Only when the grey alien made its entrance inside the lab, also the sort of sonic gun it had in the appendix that worked as a hand was visible to everyone in the room.

Conscious that the alien could not have seen them, the Brigadier moved his aim from the Master to the alien gun, hoping that his equipment was enough to at least disarm the enemy. When another alien joined the first with a different kind of gun with it, Captain Yates did the same to the newcomer.

Before they could shoot, though, some guards came rushing inside the lab, worried after having heard the glass shattering. Before the Brigadier could stop them from shooting, the guards began the counter attack and the aliens, panicking, activated their weapons, luckily missing every one of their opponents.

It all happened in a flash.

One of the bullet fired by the guards knocked out one of the guns from the appendix of the alien, while at the same time the Captain tried to properly disarm the other, making both the two guns spin around uncontrolled.

The Doctor took several steps behind, dragging the Master along with him and yelling chemical tips to the others to knock out their foes. In the meantime, however, one of the aliens managed to get a hold of some of the bullets with its wobbly appendix and managed threw them back in revenge at the Master, who was cornered, along with the Doctor, between the lasers of the still flaring alien weapons.

They were aimed straight between his eyes.

In less than a beat of an eye, enough for Jo and the Sergeant to fetch the compound the Doctor had yelled them about and spring it over the aliens, both the Master and the Doctor were lying unconscious on the floor. The Doctor, who covered visibly the smaller frame of the Master, was bleeding profusely from his right shoulder.

The Brigadier called quickly the medics, especially the very few that had a bit of knowledge about the Time Lord's biology – not thanks to the Doctor, anyway – and had the two brought quickly to the infirmary.

In the meanwhile, after assuring himself that the two alien enemies would be properly recycled as organic waste, the Brigadier attempted to asset what had happened. Unfortunately, the only thing that his men could produce was the - relatively – shocking notion that the Doctor had throw himself in front of the Master to protect him from the bullets and that, doing so, both ended up in the crossfire of the two alien guns.

No one on his scientific team could say what those two were supposed to do, so he made sure that they were now completely harmless and placed them in the infirmary with the two unconscious Time Lords, hoping that once they had recovered they could explain what the hell had happened and what they were.

At the third day, however, his unfaltering hope began to subside.

At the fourth, he asked the medics to run more exams on the two, but the answer was always the same: they had shut down themselves.

At the fifth day, he yelled at both of them, bringing up the excuse that he needed their testimony to finish his report.

At the sixth day, he had a nervous breakdown and made the medics arrange for them to be fed intravenously.

At the seventh day, Jo dragged him away from the infirmary and Captain Yates took his place along with Sergeant Benton.

At the ninth day, the Brigadier returned by force and began quarrelling at high-pitched volume with Jo about how he was her superior and she couldn't command him.

A snarl from one of the beds made both of them call a truce to go to the side of the one awake Time Lord: the Master.

"At least one of you has finally come to" The Brigadier heaved, surprising himself at how much relieved he was to see one of his enemies wake from the coma.

The Master was still quite out of sorts, but as soon as he could make sense of what the Brigadier was saying, he quickly turned to his side, only to see the Doctor still unconscious on the other bed.

"Why is his shoulder bandaged?" He asked, attempting to sound nonchalant.

"That's the only question I think I can answer" Retorted the Brigadier calmly. "Looks like he shoved himself in front of you and took the bullets in your place. Luckily it was just the shoulder, it's healing quite well"

"It's his shoulder but it would have been my head… At short time distance" The Master murmured as if it was an afterthought.

"Oh, well, you would have just changed face, wouldn't you?" The Brigadier commented lightly, before turning to check if Jo was back from calling the medics. Seeing she still wasn't back, he turned back to the Master, noting him staring unreadably at him. "What? Subdued realising the difference in height?"

"What might happen if you kill a regenerating Time Lord, my dear Brigadier? Depending on how and when many things, you know" The Master answered coldly, ignoring the attempt at humour. "Including permanent death"

The Brigadier coughed in embarrassment and looked at everything that wasn't the Master. Doing so, his attention was caught by the two alien guns.

"Look, I know we're far from friends" The soldier told the Master frankly. "But have you any idea of what actually happened? What have you two been hit with?"

"How much was I asleep?"

"Nine days"

The Master's eyes grew larger and right that moment Jo was back with the medics. The Time lord laughed at their poor attempt to check if he was ok, pointing out that the feeding was downright unnecessary. They earned a few points when they answered that they knew it perfectly well, but the Brigadier had insisted. Needless to say that the Brigadier lost a few points instead.

After the quick check up, the medics gave their response – rest and eat plenty – and Jo went to actually get the Master something to eat. Once again alone, the Brigadier decided against attempting small talk and brought the two weapons to the Master instead, asking him to help them with those two in order to help the Doctor.

"I wish I could" He answered tiredly, leaning back to his bed. "Leave them on the bedside table together with the food Miss Grant went to fetch, I'll work them out after I slept some more"

Before the Brigadier could answer, the Master had actually fallen asleep once again. Uncertain about leaving the weapons with the Master without supervision, the Brigadier asked the others to keep an eye on the Time Lords whenever he wasn't around.

Another twelve hours passed before the Master woke up again, but as soon as he was awake, he ate without complaining the cold meal Jo had left for him the night before, and then diligently took apart the two alien guns.

Jo appointed herself the Master's assistant as long as the Doctor was out, and as such fetched him everything he needed from the lab or the TARDIS.

A couple more days of sleeping soundly and dissecting weapons and the Master finally told Sergeant Benton to go fetch the dear Brigadier, since he had a vague idea of what had happened.

They all reunited around the Master's hospital bed, waiting for the explanation to come.

"First of all, when the Doctor jumped over me-"

"He saved your life!" Jo protested indignantly. "Without the Doctor you would have been-"

"Yeah, ok" The Master conceded. "When the Doctor saved my life" He stared deeply into Jo's eyes before continuing. "jumping over me, we were caught in the crossfire. However, I got hit only by the second weapon, while the Doctor got a double blast from both."

"That's why he's taking more time to come to?" The Brigadier asked.

"He can't come to. At least not by himself" The Master explained, observing gladly all his audience paling at the news. "You see, the second weapon is just a really elaborated stun gun. It was set to its max power and at the right frequency to most damage a Time Lord, but it was just that."

"What about the other, then?" The Captain asked extremely worried, voicing everyone's fears.

"It's a memory sealer" The Master said. "We Time Lords pride ourselves on our knowledge, so what better weapon against one of us than one that takes away just that? I don't know if it can be said luck or not, but working together with the stun gun it's almost like their effects bounced one against the other"

"Shouldn't he be fine, then?" Jo asked, trying to understand his words and failing at it.

"Not quite, Miss Grant. He shut himself into a coma with his memory about to be sealed and, while he was at it, he got stunned. My guess is that he didn't manage well none of the three."

"You can't say he must stay like this forever!" She protested.

"Miss Grant is right, we _must_ find a way to have him back." The Brigadier confirmed coolly.

The Master simply rolled his eyes at such a flamboyant display of comradeship and put the weapons aside in order to stand up and finally visit the Doctor himself.

"My dear fellows, even though reason should tell me to enjoy the fall of my enemy, I must tell you that I'm not going to allow the Doctor to die at the hands of someone else. Have I made myself clear?"

That said, he put two of his digits over his temples and attempted to establish some sort of contact. It felt certainly strange, like floating inside the deepest and scariest darkness.

It was some time before he finally discovered some loose threads he could follow in order to find the core and free the Doctor. Unfortunately there seemed to be quite a lot of boxes nestled one inside the other, none of which he could open. Following more of the loose threads, he eventually found a way to get inside the matrioska of cubes. As the way came to an end there was a plain door without a lock or a handle. The master tried to push against it, but it wouldn't bulge.

The Master concentrated even more, so much that the drums he had been able to keep at bay lately began resounding not only inside his head but inside the Doctor's too. Realising what was happening, the Master almost decided to give up, but that was the moment when the door almost bulged a little. He tried more then, but nothing seemed enough.

"C'mon Thete, open the damn door!" He thought eventually with all the mental strength he had left.

The door slammed open, and as he mentally almost fell inside the Doctor's core memories, he opened his eyes and found himself supported by both the Sergeant and the Captain.

"What the-?" The Master asked, realising how low energy he was left with.

"You almost fell over the Doctor" Sergeant Benton explained worriedly, as he helped the Master to stand back on his feet. "What happened?"

"I managed to open the only door I could reach. It should be enough so that he can regain consciousness, but in due time I would need to peek inside once again to open the others."

"What do you mean, Master?" The Brigadier asked.

"That you are still not freed from my presence, I'm afraid" The Master replied, sitting on the edge of the Doctor's bed. The machinery he was linked with signalled that he actually was out of the coma, but the fact that he was still deeply asleep worried the Master quite a bit.

He checked his hearts beats, temperature and then leaned over to check his eyes…. It was then that the Doctor's blue eyes snapped open with a malicious blink and the Master found himself with the Doctor's soft lips pressing over his own.

Surprise was quick to pass, leaving quickly space to absolute bliss. The Master reciprocated automatically without thinking, completely oblivious to the others' shocked stares.

When the Doctor's tongue asked for permission with a wet and hungry stroke over his lower lip, the Master simply obliged, welcoming him inside his mouth, so that their tongues could dance and caress one another like no time had passed since their last encounter ages ago.

The Master was beginning to feel light headed, because of the energy drain he had experienced before, so he lowered over the Doctor, his elbows pointed at the sides of the Time Lord's head, allowing him to deepen the kiss even more, much to the Doctor's satisfaction.

As the Master felt the distinct need to move things forward, he also realised why they couldn't keep going and, half heartedly, interrupted the kiss. He tried to resume a decent composure, but it was hard for him to stare at something that wasn't the clear blue of the Doctor's eyes, eyes that hadn't stared back at him like that in years.

He coughed to gain some time more, before questions and explanations, but the Doctor was the one that with absolute innocence decided to point out the obvious problem of his current situation.

"Koschei, you're old" He giggled uncharacteristically. "And you lost a few regenerations here and there"

"We're still the same age" Protested the Master indignantly. "Miss Grant?" He called, glad to have an excuse to refer to their public without addressing the make out. "Don't you have a hand mirror, by any chance?"

"Of course!" Jo scramble to get the mirror and in the meantime the Doctor realised the place where they were in.

"Don't tell me: we stole a TARDIS and I crashed it?" The Doctor asked, looking around himself as if he had never seen an infirmary in his life. "What, where and when is this?"

"We stole a TARDIS each, if this makes you happy, and we also crashed lots of times, but this is not the case and beside the point" The Master explained. "This is Earth, 1973. You're at the infirmary of your friends' headquarters."

The Doctor stared noncommittal at the UNIT soldiers and then back at the Master.

"Something tells me they are not _your_ friends, though" The Doctor teased, earning a low grumble from the Master.

"Yeah" The Master admitted ruefully, taking the hand mirror Jo was offering him. "Here, look at yourself"

"I can't believe it!" The Doctor protested. "I really am much older… And I've lost a few regeneration myself" Then he stared back challengingly at the Master. "Still less than yours, my dear Koschei"

The Master grumbled at the Doctor's teasing. "Stop calling me with that nickname, Thete, ages passed since Academy"

"Ah, really?" The Doctor realised, subdued. "Did I pass?"

"More or less."

"Better grades than yours?"

"Hell, no"

"Koscheeei!" The Doctor wailed desperately. "You're the worse. And I'll best you one day. At something."

"It's just the truth" The Master confirmed proudly, crossing his arms over his chest. "And call me Master"

"Yeah yeah… The Master, the Rani, the War Chief…. Less pompous names were a sin?" The Doctor protested, inadvertently making almost all the humans present chuckle at the joke. "What about the rest of the Deka?"

"Almost all renegades, me and you along with the others" The Master told him plainly.

"We flew away together?" The Doctor asked hopefully.

"We didn't, now sleep" The Master ordered, tucking the Doctor in bed as he was answered with a loud yawn. "Tomorrow your friends will want to know if you're fine and you will have to do better than this."

"I'm fine" The Doctor mumbled sleepily. "Love you, Kosch"

The Master sighed at the Doctor's confession and moved back to his bed with fatigue. He was going to get back the Doctor's memories somehow: he couldn't indulge himself in the past. He would never know if the Doctor had forgotten him, had fallen in love with someone else, if he had grown tired to wait for him… Nevertheless, the truth was that he had gone and, when he came back, the Doctor wasn't there anymore. He had even accepted some of the rules and boundaries that went with the High Council of the Time Lords and then had left anyway.

Thinking back at it, the Master still felt the desire to kill him, even now that he had no memory past the time they were at the Academy.

"Master? Was that normal?" The Brigadier asked unsurely.

"Or should we call you Koschei?" Sergeant Benton added on the same tone.

"I know that for your standards Koschei is more a name than Master, but for us it's really the opposite. Koschei is just a nickname we used at school."

"Like… Tit?" Jo offered.

"Thete." The Master corrected. "And yes, we were together, and no, it's none of your business"

That said, the Master went to sleep himself and for once the UNIT group decided to leave them rest unsupervised. Somehow, knowing that all that hate and those attempts to kill one another were just a lover's spat took a lot of the apprehension away.

* * *

"So this is my TARDIS?" The Doctor asked the day after, when the Master lead him inside his spaceship to get a change of clothes. "She's beautiful!"

The Master just sighed and did his best to convince himself that the only reason he was tagging along with his sworn enemy was that he was currently dragging him around by his wrist. That was something that always happened at the Academy, so there was no wonder that it was still happening now, when the Doctor had just his old school memories.

It didn't matter that back at school he still managed to get himself free from the Doctor's tight grip. It didn't also matter that the Doctor himself had pointed out how in later years he had become more docile to his dragging along.

Damn.

It was the lingering confusion from the stunning gun, then, he certainly wasn't enjoying it. No bloody way, not in all the seven hundred stars misplaced at the other side of the universe. Too bad they were eight hundred and he knew it.

"Koschei?" The Doctor interrupted his thoughts, turning to stare back at him with too innocent eyes that looked a bit strange on his current posh incarnation. "Are you rambling in that drumming head of yours?"

"What should I be rambling about?" The Master countered, annoyed at being caught spot on.

"What happened, Koschei?" The Doctor asked instead. "Those Terrestrian said you were the better qualified to explain"

The Master rolled his eyes, knowing that the UNIT members had decided to currently torture him with their unlimited trust and friendship. Just like the Doctor.

"They just want my complete and utter humiliation, that's what they want."

"Because they are not also your friends."

"Obviously, since they _really_ are not."

The Doctor smiled back at him knowingly and accommodated himself on the velvet armchair inside his bedroom in a way that certainly wasn't his academy Theta.

"So, what I can gather at the moment is that you've lately been up to mischief. I wonder why you didn't bring me with you, though."

The Master snorted at the comment, but sat down grudgingly on the Doctor's bed.

"You know, not knowing what actually I should be angry at you about, the general sensation I get looking at you is that, whatever it was, it was just some kind of misunderstanding"

"Things are way more complex."

"I don't doubt it, but complex problems can always been simplified as we approach the solution."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Tell me what my friends want you to tell me. If they are really _my_ friends I bet is important."

"You saved my life. The bullets you got on your shoulder are a reminder of that"

"Your life, not your regeneration" The Doctor pointed out with a light nod. "I'm glad I did it."

The Master just nodded and looked elsewhere before the Doctor spoke once again.

"This is one more proof that it was a misunderstanding" He stated calmly, standing up from the armchair to join the Master on the bed.

The Master followed his movements, still not daring to stare back at him in the eyes, as the Doctor moved closer to him, embracing his shoulders as he left a tentative kiss under his chin. The Master trembled at the contact and his hearts beats ran wilder, but he just stared resolutely at nothing in front of himself. How much he was affected, however, was clear to the Doctor, who took his chance to envelope him in a tight embrace, bringing him down with him on the bed.

As he attempted another few kisses up his collarbone, the Master found every time more difficult to maintain his point and eventually he closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh of pleasure. Knowing that it was as far as the Master was willing to do to express his consent, the Doctor moved to hover over the other Time Lord, so that they could stare in each other's eyes.

"Can I kiss you, Koschei?"

Barely realizing what the actual situation was, the Master let himself be swept away from what was their routine back at the academy, and just snorted back at the Doctor. "You're an idiot, Thete"

The Doctor smirked down at him and closed the space between their lips to kiss the Master deeply. This time, the Master decided to be a willing participant of the kiss and tried to give with as much passion as his companion was. It was no time before their hands moved up to tangle in their hair, grasping onto the soft tresses for dire life.

Now they had no onlookers to think about, so even the determination to keep his point was any time less of an urgency for the Master. It was really like no time had passed at all, and they were still young and relatively innocent and trusting about their future together. Just like what had happened after that time – including the several times the Master had tried to kill the Doctor – never happened.

Eventually their hands moved lower to undress their partner, fumbling with clothes as if they really were teenagers of roughly 80 years. The Master found enough strength to free himself from his lover just enough to reach the bedside table and take a bottle of oil from there.

Somehow, the knowledge that the Master perfectly knew how to find his things in his room was received by the Doctor as another proof for his theory. Not that it mattered much, because the Master was quickly back kissing and touching him, heating him up before moving on. The Master's warm and oiled digits, felt like a relief to the Doctor's obviously virgin body. The notion made him wonder just that little that his pleasure assaulted mind allowed him.

The sensations were too good and too desired by both his body and mind to dwell in overthinking, even more so if they just confirmed his previous theories. So, the Doctor too decided to just let himself been swept away by the waves of pleasure he was feeling. Hands roamed greedily over their skins, sometimes lingering too much over their chests to reassure themselves that their partner's hearts beat was coming in a frenzy ad much as theirs'.

As soon as the Master deemed the Doctor ready enough, he moved between his tights and stared back at him. "Fine like this, Doctor?"

A mix of hurt and surprise appeared in the Doctor's clear blue eyes, but as soon as it came, it was also gone. He smiled back at him and nodded, encouraging him to move forwards. The Master didn't like it a bit, but now he didn't even had enough brain at his disposal to understand what was happening inside his own head. Uncertain of what the proper course of events should be, the Master decided to kiss him deeply and slowly, like they had done the first time they had kissed and also the first time they had decided to move forward. In a way, this was some kind of first time too.

The Master moved one of his hands on the Doctor's injured shoulder and slowly felt the tense and sore muscles beneath the skin and bandages relax at his ministrations. Fleeting caresses reassured the Doctor everywhere they touched, comforting as well as tasting the by now sweaty skin. No matter where they moved, they skillfully brought solace to the Doctor's wary mind as well as desire throughout his body.

Only when the Master was sure that all the tension had left his lover, he actually pushed forwards and entered deep his companion. The Doctor moaned inside the kiss they had never broken and reached up to embrace the Master's waist to encourage his movements.

Painfully slow strokes quickly became passionate and erratic, as they both lost themselves in the tangle of their feelings. For the Doctor, still enclosed in Theta's memories, it was freedom: the same freedom he had always been denied on Gallifrey. For the Master, it was realization: realization of how much he had missed this, of how much stupid he had been to make a big fuss about nothing, of how much more satisfying and freeing was holding the Doctor in his arms than gallivanting around the universe alone to trick and conquer.

It was power, the Master realised, power running through their veins as they really were one single being. Maybe that's why the Doctor was his scariest fear, because he alone could make him feel like that, only him could feed his hunger for power just sharing with him his mind and soul. And seeing how good his worse enemy and best friend could feel under his touches was the sweetest treat he could ever imagine. Why he had left themselves drift away, again?

There was Theta's honest trust in front of him, but also the Doctor's reserve and petulant shyness... Somehow, he wanted to see that in pieces. The Master took in his hand the Doctor's cock, while he broke the kiss to leave a light trail of bites along his lover's neck. As the grip on the Doctor's cock became firmer and the trusts wilder, his mouth moved down to tease his nipples, finally making the Doctor scream and moan his name. His actual name.

As they almost reached completion, the Doctor searched once again the Master's eyes, and as they stared back at one another, he eventually managed to tell him "I love you, Master"

The Master bit his lower lip to not reciprocate, too swept away from the moment himself to not admit the truth but still too proud to give in. Anyway, they soon came together and the answer seemed to have been just swallowed by the moment.

As soon as he collapsed over his already half asleep lover, however, the Master found himself unwillingly to mutter "I love you too, my dear Doctor" at the Doctor's ear.

Before falling asleep completely, a knowing grin plastered on the Doctor's lips.

* * *

When they re-emerged from the TARDIS, a smiling bright Jo welcomed them with a tray filled with food.

"You missed lunch" She explained, setting the table for two with the contents of the tray.

The Doctor thanked her graciously, while the Master mouthed a thanks grudgingly, but eventually both Time Lords sat at the table and began eating.

"So" Jo asked, blushing a bit. "You solved the marital quarrel?"

The Master glared at her. "There's _no_ marital quarrel."

"Hmmm…" The Doctor mumbled doubtfully. "Not really, but we're on the right path I guess."

"What would you know?" The Master retorted indignantly.

"Quite a lot" The Doctor countered quietly, still eating with gusto. "But I don't think I'm ready to share with Miss Grant, don't worry my dear Koschei."

While the Master groaned, Jo simply looked at her feet embarrassed. "I don't want to sound too curious, I'm sorry"

"I thought I told you not to call me Koschei" Grumbled the Master, stabbing his meal with violence.

"I'll call you Mr. Oakdown, then" The Doctor countered merrily.

"How ingenious, Mr. Theta Sigma" The Master teased back.

"Please, just call me Thete" The Doctor grinned back at the Master, earning a soft blush on his tanned cheeks and a scowl from the other Time Lord.

Satisfied with the results, the Doctor looked back at Jo and winked at her. Jo grinned shyly back at him and then excused herself. Once they were alone, the Master stared annoyed back at the Doctor.

"Now, what game are you playing?" He stated. "You don't even know enough to say if that's a marital quarrel or not. Which is not, by the way. We're not even married."

"C'mon, now, Koschei" The Doctor retorted on the same tone. "It's a marital quarrel and you know it. Everything in you, me and the whole situation screams it"

"I fail to see your point" The Master admitted sincerely.

"You are right, I don't know what made us drift away, but this body wants you, it's not just my mind. Moreover, I know myself, I'm most likely trying to keep a point because I'm stubborn. You're just lucky I don't know what point I'm trying to keep at the moment" The Doctor explained. "That's what makes it obvious. Besides, if it really was a point worth keeping, you would have already killed me"

"I tried" The Master complained defensively. "You just don't want to die quietly."

"Oh, please" The Doctor retorted. "You would have and you know it. I'm still alive, so you're just acting cool"

The Master stared back at his food once again and quickly finished his meal, unwilling to concede the point to the other Time Lord. The Doctor, however, took his silence as admitting he was right, so he too turned joyfully to his meal to finish it up.

The days that followed, made the Master feel like he had been swallowed in an alternative reality. The Doctor, always acting like no time had passed since their Academy days, had no qualms treating him like a boyfriend. What was worse was that even though they quite easily slipped into their Theta-Koschei routine, the Doctor still retained some of his third incarnation, despite being stuck with just Theta's memories.

It had become an eerily mix of what he had loved in Theta and of what he had began to fall in love with of the Doctor's last incarnation, and the Master was not entirely sure he could find enough will to keep his point.

The fact that as soon as they were inside the TARDIS they went at it like rabbits in heat was enough of a reason for the Master to acknowledge that he really couldn't.

Moreover, the UNIT staff had included him without fuss, apparently coming to the conclusion that now the alliance to the Master wasn't just transitory. The Master wasn't really sure if he was more side-tracked by _their_ easy acceptance of him or by _his_ easy acceptance of them.

About a week and two attempted invasion of London had to pass before the Brigadier asked the Master the obvious. "It's not like I mind the current state of affairs, but do you think enough time passed to try again opening those mind doors inside the Doctor's head?"

The Master swallowed at the enquiry and let the component he was fidgeting with drop on the floor.

The Doctor silently went to retrieve the component and stared back at the other Time Lord, noting his positively grey complexion. "Koschei?" He asked worriedly.

"Nothing" The Master was quick to answer, turning rapidly to the Doctor as he attempted a weak sort of a smile.

"It might be about time, actually" He said in a low rumble. "Let me check."

The almost hopeful tone of his last sentence didn't go amiss to the Doctor, who dutifully closed his eyes and opened his mind to the Master's intrusion. After a bit of roaming inside his head, the Master dropped the connection and stated his conclusion.

"I don't think another session is enough, but I might be able to undo a couple more locks."

"Great!" Jo cheered gleefully. "I'm sure you too can't wait to have the Doctor back fully!"

The rest of the UNIT joined her in the small celebration, but the Doctor just kept staring at his lover worriedly.

"You don't want my memory back, don't you" He stated seriously.

"Don't be an idiot, my dear Doctor" The Master said in a monotone. "Why shouldn't I?"

"You fear I'll be back keeping my point" Was the Doctor's clinical analysis, as he searched down for the Master's cagey eyes. "But you don't need to, trust me"

"Don't make promises you can't keep" The Master stated. The _once again_ lingering in the air even though he didn't say it aloud.

"I can't say how much or what I'll manage to unblock, though" The Master declared in a much more cheerful tone. "So I don't think it is still time to dwell in overthinking. C'mon Doctor, sit down and let me open up your memory a little more."

The Doctor kept staring back at the Master, now definitively the most serious of the group. As hundreds of different thoughts passed quickly through his mind, eventually the Doctor accepted the Master's invitation and sat down in front of him, the rest of UNIT looking hopefully at the scene as well as ready to catch the Time Lords in case of a fall down like the first time.

The Master put his hands on the Doctor's temples and linked their minds, closing his eyes in the process. Deeming it the perfect moment to try out his plan, the Doctor grabbed fiercely the Master's head with both hands and crushed their lips one against the other. The Master's eyes snapped opened just enough to assure himself of what was happening, and then closed his eyes again and attempted to go back to his work as the Doctor's lips kept brushing against his.

It was a mess doing it like this but at the same time strangely easier. The Doctor's presence evened the drums and seemed to work on the other side of the cubes to open them with half of the fatigue. As he finally managed to open the last door, he could see, however, a shining deep light engulfed him as he was attempting to fall back into reality.

As the realisation dawned on him and his eyes widened in pure horror, the firm grasp on his hair hardened and the Doctor took finally his chance to deepen the kiss and claim his mouth. The Master attempted to answer the kiss the best he could - more because he thought that this would definitively be the last chance he had to kiss the Doctor than for actually feeling like it – but the panic he was feeling was too overwhelming to be kept at bay.

Eventually, the Doctor moved his hands over his shoulder and down his lower back and motioned for him to move onto his lap. The Master somehow managed to oblige, so that the Doctor could get a better control of the kiss and entangle his hands once again in his lover's hair.

Eventually it was enough to relax even the panicked Master, who eventually closed his eyes again and let the kiss lull him elsewhere. Everywhere but here and now, just like they were still children at the Academy.

When the Doctor felt the Master calming down, he finally decided to end the kiss, staring deeply at the Master's eyes while he did so. As their lips unlinked, their forehead rested one against the other.

"You must remember everything by now" The Master stated, with a hint of dread.

"I thought you could use a hand"

"So…" The Master attempted to disentangle from the Doctor's embrace, but the other Time Lord held him firmly against him.

As an answer to the Master's questioning stare, the Doctor kissed him once again lightly on his lips.

"It was just a misunderstanding" The Doctor told him, with a knowing yet shy smile that was all his current incarnation. "I'm sorry I couldn't wait for you. Things were getting too complicated on Gallifrey and… Well, after some time I thought you had forgotten me there"

"Never." The Master confessed, closing his eyes and heaving a relieved sigh.

"Stay" The Doctor told him quietly. "Stay here with me as long as this exile ends, and then we'll travel the space together"

The Master grinned ruefully at his proposal. "Last time you asked me this I actually believed it, you know?"

"With the Axons? Me too" The Doctor admitted. "But you were too quick to call treachery on my side to dwell on the hypothesis-"

"Bullshit. I have it on good authority, namely miss Grant's words, that you hoped I got trapped in a time loop with the Axons"

"I so hoped for it that I still let the Brigadier annoying me with all the sightings that he thought were about you" The Doctor admitted.

"I know that too" The Master confessed, grinning back at him.

The Doctor reciprocated and then they kissed again.

* * *

The UNIT staff, who had cleared as soon as the Doctor had decided to kiss the Master to aid his own recovery, were in the meanwhile dwelling upon possibilities.

"I tell you, write down _married_ on their _civil status_ and submit the files with the internal transferal request for familiar reason" Jo was saying for the thirteenth time. "It's the best option!"

"Miss Grant, there are no transfer clearances for married couples when the spouses are both men" The Brigadier countered plainly, as reciting out of a book.

"That might be because there's no way on the planet they could have gotten married" Sergeant Benton pointed out.

"Yeah, but they most certainly are! They kiss, they disappear inside the TARDIS, they try to kill one another... That's definitively marriage." Captain Yates protested, attempting to support Jo's proposal. "And it's not explicitly denied the eventuality with two men; they simply don't take that into consideration since it's not possible here at the moment"

"How are we going to explain this, since, as you and Benton pointed out, that's not possible on Earth?" The Brigadier tried once again exasperated.

"The same way we manage when they ask us about the Doctor!" Jo explained with passion. "The Brigadier knows and that's enough"

"Can't the Brigadier point out that it would be easier not mention the thing altogether and just acquire another scientific advisor?" The Brigadier protested.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be fun as much" The Captain countered.

As they had decided it way before, Jo, the Sergeant and the Captain all bent towards the Brigadier with a smart grin on their lips. "My dear Brigadier" They concluded merrily in a small chorus.

The Brigadier had just enough time to roll his eyes at his men that the Doctor and the Master appeared at the door, holding tight on one another, laughing together with Jo and the two soldiers at their bold imitation of them.

The Brigadier smirked back at the two Time Lords as he lowered his head to finish compiling their UNIT files to adjoin to the transferral request.

 _Civil status_ : Married.

 **THE END**


End file.
